A LECTURER who claimed his wife deceived him into thinking he was the father of her IVF son has won thousands of pounds in compensation in a landmark case.

The woman became pregnant through IVF after her ex-boyfriend gave sperm

The man, in his 60s, claimed the child was created with the sperm provided by a former boyfriend of his spouse without his knowledge.

He told a court his now ex-wife dropped the "bombshell" that he was not the boy's father when the child was five.

Today he was awarded about £40,000 by a judge at the Central London County Court in a case thought to be the first of its kind.

To protect the child, who is now nine years old, the couple are legally not allowed to be identified.

The woman, in her 50s, who has been divorced from the man since the boy was six months old, said there was “no merit” in the damages claim because she always thought the man knew he was "not necessarily" the little boy's father.

The couple married in 2002 and while they were having marriage difficulties they travelled to a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, in 2004 for IVF treatment where the man gave a sample of his sperm.

A few months later the woman returned to the clinic without the man but with a former boyfriend.

Barrister Thomas Brudenell, representing the man, said during the later visit the woman was impregnated with her ex-boyfriend's sperm.

The only reason I took [my ex-boyfriend] was because my ex-husband gave me that document to sign

Wife

The little boy was born in late 2005 and, after the couple divorced the next year, the man paid more than £80,000 in maintenance for the next few years.

He also looked after the child when the businesswoman was working.

Previous to that the pair had drawn up an agreement where the man would not have the “normal” financial responsibility for any child, which Mr Brudenell said seemed to “upset” the woman.

She asked whether any “normal, loving, caring husband” would have “forced his wife” to sign an agreement such as she signed.

In 2011 the pair had a dispute over the amount of contact he was having with the youngster and the woman told him he was not the biological father so he ordered a DNA test, which later confirmed this.

The woman told Judge Deborah Taylor her ex-husband knew “from the very first day” she had been to the clinic with her ex-boyfriend and there had been no deceit, fraud or misrepresentation – she said she was “not guilty”.

The man wanted damages for “distress and humilitation” to cover the amount he had paid in maintenance and compensation for loss of earnings as his work had suffered and income dropped because he was “shattered”.

Talking about the financial agreement document she signed, the woman said: "He didn't want to go back [to the Spanish clinic].

"The only reason I took [my ex-boyfriend] was because my ex-husband gave me that document to sign."